Injury-ravaged Carlton are set to regain some troops next week but Blues AFL coach Michael Voss has dismissed the suggestion the multitude of missing players was an excuse for their 52-point shellacking by Sydney.
Carlton kicked the first four goals at the SCG on Friday but conceded 14 of the next 16 as they were hammered 17.15 (117) to 9.11 (65) by the Swans, the fourth defeat in their last six starts.
The Blues will drop out of the eight if either Collingwood or Fremantle win on Saturday.
Voss bristled at the suggestion an injury list stretching to double digit proportions could be a reason for his team's performance at the SCG.
"You won't hear me say that. We had a team out there that could get the job done," Voss said.
"We've had some continuity with some important pieces with the guys out there.
"It presents some challenges but it's not insurmountable and we could have got that job done and we didn't."
Key defender Jacob Weitering didn't return for the second half because of a corked thigh with Voss saying it could be 48 hours before they know the extent of the injury.
On the plus side, he expected both Adam Saad and Jesse Motlop back from hamstring issues for next Saturday's home game with Gold Coast.
Voss bemoaned the lack of connectivity in his side in the crucial third quarter when Sydney broke the game open by kicking a number of goals from centre bounce.
"Teams have run ons, but we also have some methods to be able to counter that should it happen and we just couldn't get the game in a fight, we couldn't get the ball on the floor," Voss said.
Sydney's James Jordon held influential midfielder Sam Walsh to just 20 touches, by far his lowest tally this season.
Voss lamented the inability of other Carlton players to step up.
"There's a few little mechanics in there that we can do better, it's not just his matchup," Voss said.
"There's a couple of other things that were happening around it we just need to be a bit more mindful of as well.
"We like to think within our system there's not just one player that has to be the difference for us.
"We feel like we've got method that when we execute it all together is a very sound method.
"We feel like we've got a strong system that when.we all execute it well and we do our roles together, that if one player is taken off the board for whatever reason, that others step up and, just unfortunately we weren't able to get that tonight."